


Fox Hunt

by greycoupon



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Foxes, One bed fic, Post-Movie: The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21904123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greycoupon/pseuds/greycoupon
Summary: Prompt was hotel room only has one bed fic where Mulder and Scully get caught in a blizzard and talk about Antarctica and what almost happened in Mulder's hall.Mulder promised her this would be a quick in and out case and she'd be home in plenty of time for the holiday.  She really should have seen this coming.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 14
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Baroness_Blixen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baroness_Blixen/gifts).



> Thanks to postmodernpromartheus, muldersfiish and ceruleanmilieu for the beta. Re-edited 1/07/2020.

Dana Scully was going to kill Fox Mulder.

Or kiss him. Perhaps both, but not in that order. She was stuck in a drafty motel room in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin on Thanksgiving and it was all his fault.

It had started three days ago when she had come into the office somewhat distracted. She was mentally going over her holiday to-do list and trying to figure out how early she would need to get up on Thanksgiving to make her mother’s recipe for pumpkin pie. She thought about cheating by using a store bought crust as that would buy her some time and allow her to get a little extra sleep.

As she set her briefcase down on her desk, she vaguely realized Mulder was on the phone. It had better not be a new case unless it was a case that could wait.

“Okay, we should be there late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Keep the body on ice for us,” he said before hanging up the phone.

There wasn’t any chance he was using the ‘royal we,’was he? She wondered to herself.

Then he looked at her and gave her that smile. Oh no.

“So Scully, there’s this case in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Bodies show up with no discernible cause of death and 8 to 12 hours later a family member has a vision of their deceased loved one. The latest victim is still at the morgue because the ME is out of town for the holiday…”

Sensing her dismay, Mulder added, “It will be a quick trip. They just want a second opinion and the police chief actually called us.” He added slightly sardonically, “Our reputation precedes us. I promise you will be back for the holiday with your family.”

So she had stopped arguing with herself over whether you really could taste the difference between store bought pie crust and homemade and went home to pack.

\----

The motel clerk gave them a once over.

“So I’m guessing you’re not here for the national snow sculpture competition.”

They just looked blankly at him.

“You know, Winterfest…”

Mulder could tell Scully was done. He stepped up to the counter.

“We would like two rooms, please,” he said and pulled out his wallet to get his bureau credit card.

The clerk frowned again and looked at the register book in front of him. No computer for this place, they did everything by hand.

“Well, that’s the thing,” he said and double checked something on the page in front of him. “Yep, we only have one room left. Actually, you’re in luck. The festival people had booked the entire place, but we had a cancellation.”

Scully shifted from foot to foot. “We could try another hotel.” Mulder inwardly cringed. Was the idea of sharing space with him so abhorrent at this point?

The clerk smiled a smile of someone who knew he had them over a barrel. “Every place is booked solid. You’ll have to go at least 20 miles out to find a room during Winterfest.”

Mulder looked at Scully who sighed. “Fine, we will take it,” she said. He really hoped the room had two beds. 

No such luck. The room was old, but clean from his cursory examination. There was one bed he thought was queen sized, but seemed to shrink every time he looked at it. The room had the usual accompaniments: a small desk with an uncomfortable looking chair, and a wood dresser with an ancient looking tv on top of it. No couch.

Mulder looked at Scully who stared at the bed for a long time. “I could...sleep on the floor,” he offered, really hoping she would say no. Just for the sake of his back. Really. But he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. She finally tore her gaze away from the bed to look at him with an unfathomable expression.

She wouldn’t really make him do it, would she?

Finally she said, “No, don’t be silly. We can share the bed. We are both professionals.”

He smiled, but winced inside. Was that really all they were to each other? They were still friends, weren’t they? At the very least. He had thought now that they had the X-Files back, things would go back to normal.

Scully sat on the bed and pulled her shoes off. “What time are we meeting the police chief?” she asked, as she rubbed her aching feet.

Mulder moved to sit next to her on the bed, but there didn’t seem to be room. After waiting in vain for her to scoot over, he gave up, picked up his briefcase and made his way to the desk.

He pulled the case file out of his briefcase. If she wanted to be professional, they would be  professional. 

“4:30. He wanted to go over the case before you start the autopsy.”

Deliberately keeping his back to her, he spread out the autopsy photos across the desk. Not that he knew what he was looking for. He could feel Scully approaching from behind.

“I’m not really sure what I’m looking for here, but maybe the latest body will have some clues the locals missed,” he said, not looking up.

“Mulder.”

He jumped when he felt her hand on his shoulder and the paperwork he had been holding fell to the floor.

He leaned down to pick it up at the same time Scully did. He managed to stop himself before they actually smashed heads, as they grabbed for the same paper.

They both crouched on the floor,staring at each other. Her face was so close to his that he could feel her breath on his cheek. She bit her bottom lip and that always did things to his insides that he didn’t like to focus on too much.

“Scully…” he started to say, but, unfortunately or fortunately, was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone.

“Mulder,” he answered as he got to his feet.  He looked down at Scully and reached out his hand to help her up. She took the offered hand, but she avoided his gaze. 

Mulder hung up after a brief call and ignored the tension in the room. 

“The police chief wants to meet with us ASAP,” he told Scully. 

**\--**

They met police chief Jake McGann at the morgue.

Chief McGann was a jovial man who seemed to be enjoying middle age. He met them at the morgue entrance, full of enthusiasm.

“I’m so glad you are here,” were his first words to them. Once they got names and handshakes out of the way, Scully asked the obvious question.

“I understand you requested us personally? Not just FBI assistance?”

“Oh yes, I read all about your investigations in a magazine. I’m very interested in unusual phenomenon. Ghosts, cryptids and the like. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one in law enforcement who believes in this stuff so it's good to know I’m not alone.” He gave them both a big smile.

Scully smiled back politely. “So what magazine was this?” She had a feeling Mulder left this out for good reason.

“It was the National Inquisitor. They really do some fine work, besides the celebrity alien baby silliness.”

Scully saw Mulder wince. Uh huh.

Desperately wanting to keep things on track so they could actually get to work on the case, she redirected the conversation.

“So who found the body?’ she asked as she signed in and presented her credentials to the morgue attendant.

Just as the Chief was about to reply, the radio on his belt squawked. He answered it and after a brief conversation, apologized saying there was an emergency and he had to go.

She and Mulder got to the morgue and she waited for him to pick up the conversation while she got ready to get down to business. 

“A local nature photographer was looking for a red fox den in the park…”

Scully set out her instrument tray, carefully arranging her scalpels and other implements to her liking before she started on the body while Mulder recapped the case.

“Julie Myers, age 42, had been found in Veterans Park yesterday around noon. She was fully clothed and had no visible injuries The paramedics had been called because someone had “passed out” on the walking path. They found Julie, quite dead on the scene looking like she was just taking a nap. No signs of hypothermia. No trauma. It was the same with the two previous victims.” 

“The victim had taken an early lunch at her ad agency job and never returned. Her car was parked nearby. She wasn’t wearing running clothes and no one was sure what she had actually been doing out there. The high yesterday was 24 degrees. “

“What was she wearing?” Scully asked. She knew the answer, but Mulder was on a roll and she liked listening to him talk as she got to work.

“She was wearing her work clothes as well as a heavy winter coat, scarf, mittens, ear muffs and snow boots. Definitely dressed for the weather.”

After waiting to see if Scully had anything else to interject, he continued,“Six hours after the body was found, Julie’s 8 year old daughter, Maya, had a vision of her mother standing in Maya’s bedroom. She said her mother was trying to talk to her, but wasn’t making a sound. The child was scared to death and crying hysterically as she ran into the living room where her father and several family members had gathered.”

Scully put on her goggles and prepared the body for the “Y” incision.

“So, what’s your theory?” she asked as she split the pale skin of the body’s chest. “I’m not really sure why you’ve been keeping me in suspense.”

Mulder had seen enough dead bodies and autopsies that he no longer got grossed out. They were just bodies. He still found seeing someone taken apart piece by piece, categorized, weighed and measured a bit unsettling, but he always found watching Scully slicing and dicing oddly comforting. Scully was brilliant in any room on any day, but was always at her best when she was decoding the mystery of a dead body. 

“I have several theories. Ghosts. Demonic possession. A hex gone wrong.  _ Werewolves _ .” That last one actually made her laugh which was obviously his goal..

“Be serious,” she admonished him, glancing up to give him a brief smile before returning to her work.

“Maybe not werewolves,” he conceded, “but I’m pretty wide open here given the serious lack of forensic evidence so far.”

“You didn’t mention a hoax.”

“Because I knew you would.” That earned him a frown. He pretended not to notice and continued “Of course it could be a hoax, but we do have three dead people. A serial killer who lured these people out there somehow? A coincidence? All these young healthy people died of natural causes?” Were they scared to death? A serial killer can’t cause their ghosts to appear.” 

“The power of suggestion is real. You’re a psychologist. You know that. One person thinks they see something and word spreads. Kids with active imaginations hear stories and, coupled with a traumatic loss, their mind plays tricks on them.” She finished cracking the chest and reached for the rib spreader.

As fun as going around with her was, he knew he should do some investigating on his own. Especially if he wanted to keep his promise and make sure they got this case wrapped up quickly so she could get home.

“I’m going to go talk to Julie’s family and the witness who found the body, if there’s time. Meet back for a late dinner?”

That got him a genuine smile. “Are you buying?” she asked.

“Since you’re doing all the hard work, sure. Never let it be said I don’t appreciate you.” There was always that nagging fear that she would get tired of this and go have a career and real life. She almost left him last summer. She had made it clear to him, and everyone else at the FBI, that she only wanted to work with him and that if she felt like she wasn’t actually making a difference, she’d walk. He was on this epic, soul destroying, life ruining quest and so was she. After everything that had happened. All the things they never talked about. Now that they had the X-Files back, it seemed, more than ever, that this was where she wanted to be, but late at night he still worried.

Which was why leaving their feelings on antarctic ice was the safer option. For now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A break in the case leads to a long overdue conversation about what happened in Mulder's hall. With bonus one bed awkwardness and snow. Lots of snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic ended up being more story than I first thought. I think there will be one or two more chapters. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

They met back up several hours later. Over dinner at a nearby diner they updated each other on their findings. Scully’s autopsy had shown Julie Myers had died of cardiac arrest. She didn’t find any other signs of trauma or disease.

“Her heart stopped, but I couldn’t find any underlying cause. A sudden shock, maybe? It is rare, but not unheard of,” she told Mulder between bites of her sandwich.

“So you think all of the victims were frightened to death?” he asked.

Scully frowned and put her sandwich down. “I didn’t say that. What did you find out with the interviews?”

“Not very much besides the fact that Daniel, Julie’s husband, worshipped the ground his wife walked on. He was absolutely devastated.”

The man was so despondent that Mulder wasn’t sure he should have disturbed him, but he knew the only thing that could help the family now was finding out what really happened.

“Julie was a typical working mom. Book club on Saturdays. She never missed any of Maya’s soccer games. She was healthy. Daniel made a point to mention they had really good health insurance and she had a physical last month which she passed with flying colors.”

He paused and added, “he did mention Julie was vegan and had gotten into animal rights recently. She was worried about commercial development in the area encroaching on the natural habitat of local animals. But he really wasn’t sure what she was doing in the park.”

After dinner they headed back to the hotel. Mulder flipped on the television and started to channel surf.

“If the Knicks are playing, feel free to put it on. I don’t mind,” Scully offered.

“Nah, they aren’t playing tonight.“ He put AMC on. Miracle on 34th Street was playing.   
He and Scully both sat on the bed and watched it in silence, not daring to look at each other. 

When it was over they each took turns changing in the bathroom before bed. Scully had brought flannel pajamas figuring it would be cold, but she had no idea what to expect from Mulder. Hopefully he didn’t sleep naked. This was going to be awkward, no matter what. He emerged from the bathroom and she took one look at his t-shirt and burst out laughing.

“I Sucked The Mothman’s Dick in Point Pleasant, WV,” it proudly proclaimed. Scully rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh. Yes, they were going to be just fine.

“Where did you get that shirt?” she asked.

Mulder looked down like this was the first time he had ever seen it.

“Well, it says so right on the shirt.”

“I know that, but what possessed you to buy it?”

Mulder shrugged. “I didn’t. It was a gift.”

“A gift...someone gave you that? But why?”

Mulder pulled back the covers and got into the bed. “I guess she thought it was funny.”

She?

Scully tried to not let that rankle her. Half of the planet was a she. It didn’t mean it was anyone in particular.

While she was dying to ask who had given it to him, she knew it was none of her business so she stayed silent. 

Mulder fluffed his pillow and made himself comfortable. She thought about sitting at the desk to read, but that was just delaying the inevitable. She got into her side of the bed.

“Could you turn off the light, if you’re going to sleep?” he asked, so very casual while she was lying there stiffly trying to make sure not one inch of her body came into contact with his.

She turned off the lamp and lied still. She listened to Mulder’s breathing relax as he fell asleep. He liked to tease her that she could fall asleep anywhere, but he was just as good at zonking out no matter the situation.

She felt wide awake. She knew she shouldn’t have had a cup of coffee with dinner. She tried very hard not to move.

“Scully,” Mulder said quietly. She almost screamed because he had startled her so much.

Mulder continued, “It's fine. Nothing is going to happen. Just relax. I can hear you thinking over there and it’s keeping me awake.”

Maybe the nothing happening was the problem.

She sighed and started reciting the periodic table in her head. 

She fell asleep somewhere around Thallium.

\--

In the morning they went back over the case as they shared breakfast and coffee at a little cafe in town. They had to wait 20 minutes for a table and this service was terrible due to the sheer volume of tourists in town. 

“Who found the second body last month?” Scully asked as she took a bite of her scrambled eggs. “A hunter?”

He consulted the notes from the police interview in the casefile.

“Yeah, a licensed hunter was looking for foxes in the area,” Mulder trailed off as he read from the page in front of him. “They were looking for red foxes, specifically. A den had been spotted in the area…” That certainly got their attention since Julie was found by someone looking for a fox den.

“Are foxes the connection here or are they just that common out here?” Scully wondered.

“We should check out the area Julie’s body was found.”  
\--  
They checked in with Chief McGann who gave them the name of a store where they could pick up some hiking gear. 

“Are you sure you want to go out there?” he asked them. “The snow cover is pretty deep and the body was found about a mile into the park. You can’t drive down there.”

“We’ll be fine,” Mulder told him, thinking of his promise to Scully that this would be a quick investigation. Thanksgiving was tomorrow and Mulder was willing to do anything to get this thing solved or at least resolved enough so he could get her home. 

Several hours later, Mulder was regretting his hubris. They had been out here for almost two hours and he was pretty sure they were going in circles at this point. It looked simple enough on the map, but everything was covered in snow and it was hard to tell where they were. 

Scully slipped in the snow and Mulder grabbed her before she actually fell down. They were seriously lost. She tried flexing her mostly frozen fingers and wondered if she had the dexterity to get out the compass.  
“I haven’t been this cold since--” she thought out loud before she could stop herself.

Mulder seemed to have been waiting for an opportunity like this to come up as he asked her, “Are we ever going to talk about that? Really talk about it and not just repeat the story you tell yourself to rationalize everything. What about what happened before that? Before you got stung in my hall?“

She gave him the most incredulous look she could muster. They were going to have this conversation NOW? The man really did have the most amazing sense of timing. 

“Mulder, can we talk about this later? Preferably when we are somewhere inside with heat?” She flexed her half frozen fingers inside her gloves.

Mulder turned to face her and stared her down. “No. You’ll just find another reason to dodge and deflect. We are having this conversation now.”

Scully tried cracking a smile to ease the tension. “Is it really worth losing a few fingers or toes over?”

Mulder didn’t smile back. “I meant what I said. I thought I was doing real work before you came along. I had The X-Files and was doing the investigations. Searching for the truth. But to everyone else I was just ‘Spooky’ Mulder howling at the moon. Then you were there and I had to actually do the hard work. I had to make the cases pass the rigor of science or at least try to. People couldn’t just write me off as nuts, like before, not once I had you backing me up.”

“I’m glad you realize we make a good team on these investigations,” Scully told him, knowing that really wasn’t his point here. 

“No!” Mulder snapped and she could sense him almost vibrating with indignation. Or maybe that was just the cold.

Scully jumped at the vehemence of his response and nearly fell again. Mulder caught her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders...just to hold her up? Or for other reasons.

“When I said you made me a whole person, I didn’t just mean on the job. I mean my basic existence. I’ve been searching my whole life for the truth. I’ve been searching for Samantha. I didn’t think I needed anyone else. There were relationships with women and men…”

That last part earned him a raised eyebrow which he ignored.

“I was even…” his voice faltered while he internally debated how much to tell her. “I had a few pretty serious relationships, but they always were secondary. Less important than my work. I never thought I needed another person to be complete. Until you.”

His piercing gaze never left her face. Scully shivered and not from the cold. “Mulder…”

“No, let me finish. Then I met you and it was like someone had turned on a light in the darkness. You believed me. You believed in me. Professionally and personally. But you still didn’t let me get away with anything.”

That earned him a small laugh and he continued, “You really have no idea how much you mean to me, do you?”

Scully squirmed, not that he could tell under all her heavy winter gear. That was it. She was afraid to think too much on it. She was afraid to believe.

It had started snowing. A light dusting at first was now coming down in heavy flakes.

Scully watched the big fluffy flakes land on Mulder’s head. She noticed his face was wet… from the snow. It must be from the snow.

They both jumped when they heard a piercing cry in the distance.

“What is that?” Scully asked, unable to place the sound.

“I think that would be the cry of a fox,” Mulder told her.


End file.
